Are you worried about your next rental payment during coronavirus? 

If you’re a tenant and concerned about paying your rental payments over the coming months, please keep reading below for our helpful guide on what help is currently available.

Tenants who are working and have coronavirus or are self isolating on government advice: 

• If you cannot work due to coronavirus and are eligible for Statutory Sick Pay you will get it from day one, rather than from the fourth day of your illness. This applies retrospectively from 13 March 2020. Statutory Sick Pay will be payable if you have coronavirus or are self-isolating on government advice.
• If you need to provide evidence to your employer that you need to stay at home due to having symptoms of coronavirus an Isolation Note can be obtained from NHS 111 online. If you live with someone that has symptoms, an Isolation Note can be obtained from the NHS website.
• If you are not eligible to receive sick pay you can apply for Universal Credit and/or apply for New Style Employment and Support Allowance
• You can also apply for these if you are prevented from working because of a risk to public health.

Tenants who have been put on the job retention scheme known as being 'on furlough": 

• If you and your employer both agree, your employer might be able to keep you on the payroll if they’re unable to operate or have no work for you to do because of coronavirus (COVID-19). This is known as being ‘on furlough’. Your employer could pay 80% of your regular wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, up to a monthly cap of £2,500.
• You’ll still be paid by your employer and pay taxes from your income. You cannot undertake work for your employer while on furlough. We expect the scheme to be up and running by the end of April.
• Your employer is responsible for claiming through the Job Retention Scheme on your behalf and for paying you what you are entitled to. You cannot apply for the scheme yourself.
• Both you and your employer must agree to put you on furlough - so speak to your employer about whether they can claim. Once agreed your employer must confirm in writing that you have been furloughed to be eligible to claim. Contact your employer if you do not receive confirmation.
• Any employer with a UK payroll and a UK bank account will be able to claim, but you must have been on your employer’s PAYE payroll before or on 28 February 2020. You can be on any type of contract, including a zero-hour contract or a temporary contract. You can be furloughed under the scheme if you are a foreign national.

If you were made redundant or stopped working for your employer after 28 February 2020: 

• Your employer can agree to re-employ you and place you on furlough. They’ll still be able to claim a grant to cover 80% of your regular wages, up to a monthly cap of £2,500 if you were on your employer’s PAYE payroll on 28 February 2020.

Tenants who are self employed:

• Direct cash grant of 80% of their profits, up to £2,500 per month.
• The scheme will be open to those with a trading profit of less than £50,000 in 2018-19 or an average trading profit of less than £50,000 from 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
• To qualify, more than half of their income in these periods must come from self-employment.
• To minimise fraud, only those who are already in self-employment and meet the above conditions will be eligible to apply. HMRC will identify eligible taxpayers and contact them directly with guidance on how to apply.
• The income support scheme, which is being designed by HMRC from scratch, will cover the three months to May. Grants will be paid in a single lump sum covering all 3 months, and will start to be paid at the beginning of June.
• Individuals should not contact HMRC now. HMRC will use existing information to check potential eligibility and invite applications once the scheme is operational.
• Those who pay themselves a salary and dividends through their own company are not covered by the scheme but will be covered for their salary by the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme if they are operating PAYE schemes.
• Before grant payments are made, the self-employed will still be able to access other available government support for those affected by coronavirus including more generous universal credit and business continuity loans where they have a business bank account.

Coronavirus business interruption loan scheme for small and medium sized businesses: 

• The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) supports small and medium-sized businesses, with an annual turnover of up to £45 million, to access loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance of up to £5 million for up to 6 years.
• The government will also make a Business Interruption Payment to cover the first 12 months of interest payments and any lender-levied fees. This means smaller businesses will benefit from no upfront costs and lower initial repayments.
• The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to pre-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to small and medium-sized businesses.

You’re eligible if your business:

• is based in the UK
• has an annual turnover of up to £45 million
• has a borrowing proposal which the lender would consider viable, if not for the coronavirus pandemic.

The following businesses are not eligible to apply:

• banks, insurers and reinsurers (but not insurance brokers)
• public-sector bodies
• further-education establishments, if they are grant-funded
• state-funded primary and secondary schools

Grants for small businesses: 

• The Government is providing funding for local authorities for a one-off Grant of £10,000 for businesses currently eligible for Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate Relief, to help meet their ongoing business costs.
• A further grant of up to £25,000 will be available for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses operating from small premises with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000. Eligible businesses for these grants should check the local authority website for information on how to claim.

Do you need to apply for a business support grant? 

All information on how to apply can be found on your local council website, however please see below local council links to the application process.

• Horsham District Council Business Support Grant Application
  
• Mole Valley District Council Business Support Grant Application
• Reigate & Banstead Borough Council Business Support Grant Application 

What other support is there? 

The government has announced other ways to help renters: 

• £500 million available to fund households experiencing financial hardship.
• Both Universal Credit and Housing Benefit will increase and from April, Local Housing Allowance rates will pay for at least 30% of market rents in each area.

More information can be found on the following government websites: Financial support for businesses during coronavirus (COVID-19) and Government support available for landlords and renters.

If you have any questions or need advice, please contact Dedman Lettings on enquiries@dedmanlettings.com or 01293 821143.